Safari 3.0L Dicor - Ownership Report

[Akash]

I feel sorry for you Dhaya. But i feel you should take this issue seriously. If TATA doesnt respond, just threaten them of registering a case. I am sure it will sork as it worked in my case. 45k is no small amount. I feel that amount got wasted just because of unskilled people at the TATA service centre. From your report isee that the CHECK ENGINE light problem cropped up 4 times after t was rectified by TATA guys which is pathetic on their part. IF they dont know about the vehicles they sell then atleast they shouldnt ask to change the parts which need not be required especially the ones which cost a bomb.

So IMO wait for TATA guys to reply, if they fail to do so, threaten them that you will file a case against them. Hopefully they will reply.If they dont reply even then, file a case. You must get that 45k back. I dont think that repplacement was needed. I will confirm about that with a guy who works at TATA SS here.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Fuel injector replacement !! that too in so short span.

Another eg how A S S plays with its customer. the reason i still do not take my car to them.

You could have just asked people here , you have got lot of friends here !


Check engine may glow , if there is fault in fuel system , if sensor is wrong , if some electrical shorts , Ecm reset etc .

 

[raj_5004]

sorry to hear the ordeal you went through buddy.

it is really shocking how an A.S.S can charge you 45k for nothing! please do escalate this matter to the higher ups in TATA & keep your fingers crossed that they do respond.

 

[RSM]

45K is too much to ignore. Keep reminding Tatas, but you should first blast the Pokma service center and ask them if they were not sure how they decided the issue with Fuel Injector.

 

[mukeshus]

Hey dhaya why you didn't went to other dealer when you first had a problem with Engine checklamp.
You could have consulted 2-3 dealers before giving it to repair.
As 45,000 INR is not a small amount.

 

[AMG]

You could have posted here and asked the opinion of various TAIns before spending such a huge amount.

Had you asked, everyone would have told you not to get the Fuel injectors replaced.

But atleast now, learn from your mistakes.

 

[Akash]

@AMG- Some times time constraints dont allow us to get into details of things. Maybe dhaya had to get that issue rectified as early as possible so he just went ahead with what the TATA guy said.
@cooldhaya- i hope the check engine light didnt give a problem today!

 

[cooldhaya]

@ Akash Yes i have mailed them but no reply still. Though i din tell in detail like i have posted here. We have not taken the issue very seriously as the car has clocked another 1k km after the replacement. But we have decided no more TATA cars in our life. TATA is going to lose a loyal customer who has been using TATA cars for close to 15 years because of some pathetic people.

@ Ilango I din have time to post here as i had to leave the car in the morning itself and we very badly needed the car next week because of the trip which we had planned.

@ Raj Yeah i am ready to escalate but don know from where and whom to start with . Any help or suggestions guys?

@ RSM As i said before the owner is my dad's very close friend , so he did not scold them. But we decided to never service my car again there.

@ Mukesh We service all our vehicles only at regular places , so din consult the other dealers. And moreover they are Authorized SA'S appointed by TATA , so i least expected them to make such mistakes.

@ AMG As Akash said two things held me from posting here. My dad asked me drop the car immediately for service and second we needed the car back pretty badly the same week itself because of our scheduled trip. Any further delays and our trip would have got postponed!

@ Akash Well the check engine problem did crop up again , let me complete my whole story tonight!

 

[cooldhaya]

I will start from where i left.

The check engine problem appeared to have been solved and i was quite happy. I noticed a sudden power surge from my engine which maybe due to ECU resetting as said by many in Raj's thread. So i had little respect for Concorde motors now. I trusted them now and it was time to get few other small repairs rectified. The problems were:

1. Vehicle shuttering when braking at speeds above 60kmph.
2.Water entry into rightside headlamp assembly.
3.SAFARI EX badge must be fitted again.
4.Water entry inside the boot through leaks in the boot door on the top.
5.Right side fender indicator not working.
6. Rear seats were not properly locking at times.
7.Handbrakes were ineffective and needs to be tightened.
8.Fog lamps needs to be re-positioned as the focus was away from the road.

I reported all these problems to Concorde and left the car to them. Gone 15 days and no calls from Concorde. When i called them finally they said they are yet to receive disc brakes. I decided to wait and finally after another 10 days the disc brakes arrived and they fixed and delivered the car.


Out of the complaints i listed them , they solved only 1,5 and 6! About water entry into the headlamp assembly they said they cannot solve as we had replaced the headlamps from Pokma motors previously.

Now here is another short story. The water entry into headlamp started almost a year back. When we reported to Pokma they said that only solution is to replace the entire headlamp assembly. My dad agreed and changed it paying 4k. Then come the next rain and again water was found inside. We reported to Pokma again and they this time also said to change the assembly. We got frustrated and told that it was changed a few months back. Seeing this , they removed the water and then sealed the top of the assembly with a superglue to avoid water entry and said the problem is now rectified. And again after another heavy rain water entered again. I decided not to report to Pokma again!


And one day when i casually was inspecting the car , i found that a rubber beading which comes on the outer edge of the assembly was missing and there was a small gap between the bonnet and the assembly and maybe that is the reason why the water in entering.


And so coming back to present situation in Concorde now , so they said they cannot do anything to the headlamp now. They asked me to go to Pokma and report to them about this as they have fitted the assemble wrongly without the beading. The beading cannot be got separately also. No use now , as the headlamp assembly was changed several months back!


Regarding the badge for my Safari EX Concorde said they dont have the stock of it( good , as i expected). He said the water entry inside the boot was due to rusting of the doors on the top and only tinkering can solve that issue.( agreed). Fog lamps and handbrakes they said they rectified it but still both are in the same condition. Even Concorde is not good after all is my verdict after seeing all this!!


And regarding the solving the vehicle shuttering problem , they said the discs needs to be replaced as it cannot be rectified even after phasing in a Lathe. And also in addition to this even the brake pads needs to be changed. All this they said when i called them after 15 days. I gave the approval to do all this. And then in addition they said the suspension bearings needs replacement soon and also the Clutch assembly needs an overhaul sooner. We said we will do it later as we have decided to almost get rid of the car.


In addition to all this oil service was also due and so asked them to change the oil and filters too. So the total bill was around 11k including the charges for disc brakes and pads and regular oil service.


Now the vehicle shuttering problem was also gone and only a few small issues remained now which was negligible. We decided to run the car for maybe this year end and then dispose off the car and get a new one.


And guys still the problem is not yet over! See the amounts i have spent so far on Safari for the last six months alone!

 

[AMG]

You must be wanting to give the Tata a ta-ta.

I mean, seriously, your tale is worse than the so called Skoda A.S.S. horror stories.

 

[cooldhaya]

The problem with Skoda's must be spare parts availability and costly spares but the condition is totally different here. Though the spares are cheaper they are totally unreliable!!


And yeah we have already decided to bid a TA-TA by next year , no more TATA serious!

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Gosh , so many probs , and you have spend much over that .

Authorized service people do drain our money.

Terribly sad that a car i like makes its owner unhappy

 

[Akash]

Its really sad to hear your experiences with such a nice car. I can understand how you feel because we too had horrible experiences with TATAs when we had our indigo. We finally sold it off in less than 4years just because of A.S.S. And look at our City, touch wood, she is serving us happily since past 4years.
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Terribly sad that a car i like makes its owner unhappy

Even i am a Safari fan. And its the A.S.S which is making its customers mad, if they do their job well i think Safari is a great car to own.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

The thing is lack of experienced mechanic.

Only a experienced mechanic can co relate a problem.

we cant expect all staff to work with interest.


For condition like this in ASS , they must have a test spare for everything. Like in dhayanidhi case , they can fix a injector and check them , if its really that problem , they can charge them after ward. A bill of 45000 for nothing is _______.

Even a local garage that get a safari once a week is far better in finding and arresting the fault , than a ass that get 10 safari a day.


Also the other thing that can be blamed is , customers urgency.
since i am into same kinda business , the customer feels every work is damn easy . Give some time for mech and other workers to plan and work for the car. And more over mech who work under this pressure , not only does a bad work but spoils his reputation.



So from now on get the exact reason for the parts replaced , ask them to give assurance that the fault will be arrested , else the money back.


A small eg of maruti guys :

A omni(not ours) , went to service station with a complaint that a sound was comming from rear when they drive in bad road . The service people there asked him to change the rear leaf spring. and he did . A leaf spring change for just 4 years old car.

Again the problem occured and was again at the serivce station. this time they changed the tank mounting , silencer mounting etc another bill was around some 2000/-

again the problem , vexed he came to our mechanic.

After hearing his story , my mech just checked the interior of car , and found the jack lift handle was placed below the rear mat , so that made the noise in every bump.


So experiences do count a lot in service.!!

 

[cooldhaya]

Hey Ilango we never pressurized them to give them the car back soon after the trip. Even before the trip they had four days time which i think is more than sufficient!


But even after facing so many problems , i would say TATA Safari is a great car to drive and own. It gives the sense of pride , safety , great FE , comfort etc etc. Only the A.S.S spoil the car because of lack of experienced mechanics. Still i would say go ahead with Safari , run the car to the maximum for three years and then sell it off before it starts giving problems!